


Take Two

by Auddieliz09



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: M/M, Tatto artist theo, Tattoos, Theo Raeken is a Little Shit, background Morey, meet ugly prompt, museum tour guide liam, probably inaccurate history facts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-21
Updated: 2019-10-21
Packaged: 2020-12-27 11:30:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21118064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Auddieliz09/pseuds/Auddieliz09
Summary: My take on the prompt: We were set up on a blind date but it went horribly, so now you message me every time you have a good date because you think your tips will help me in the future, you ass.





	Take Two

**Author's Note:**

  * For [xTarmanderx](https://archiveofourown.org/users/xTarmanderx/gifts).

> Happy (late) birthday to an amazing friend! Ily Tara! I hope you have an amazing year!
> 
> Let it be known that I am not a historian so any inaccuracies are because I was too lazy to do research.

Liam stares at his phone. He exits the messaging app and locks his phone. Then unlocks it and reopens the app. Nope. The message is still the same.

**Mason 1:47 PM**

**I got u a date w/ Corey’s rly hot coworker! Ur welcome! **

**He’ll pick u up at 6 on Friday.**

Fuck. Liam loves his best friend. He really does. But Liam has been single for a week -a week!- he is not ready to go on a date with anybody. Especially Corey’s really hot coworker. What an awful identifier, anyway. Corey is a tattoo artist who works with other tattoo artists. They’re all basically hot. 

He can rule out the piercer who is a lesbian and Corey’s bosses who are happily married to each other. But there are at least three other artists at the shop that Liam had seen the few times he’d gone by the shop with Mason and they are all hot. So. Fuck.

He’s not ready. He won’t be ready by Friday. He won’t be ready for a while probably. There is a giant Hayden shaped hole in his life at the moment and he doesn’t think that’s going to go away anytime soon.

Right. Liam sucks in a breath and unlocks his phone again to tell Mason to cancel the date. An incoming text makes him pause.

**Unknown 1:52 PM**

**Hey, Liam? This is Theo. Mason gave me your number. **

**I hope you don’t mind too much. I’m looking forward to Friday. :)**

Well, fuck.

*

Liam stands in front of his closet wondering how he gets himself into situations like the one he’s currently in. He’s pretty sure he’s a good person so what did he do to deserve this?

It’s Friday and he’s going to meet one Theo Raeken at the new Italian/Greek restaurant. He'd managed to convince Theo to meet him there rather than pick him up. 

Over the last four days, he’d learned that Theo is the shorter, super built (and, yes, ridiculously hot) artist out of the three that he hadn’t known. If the photo he’d sent was anything to go by anyway. He’s nice and funny and Liam didn’t want to completely ghost him -because, rude- and he didn’t want to hurt the guy’s feelings by refusing the date outright. 

So here he is with a harebrained idea to make himself undesirable without making it obvious he’s trying to derail interest. He’s set himself up to walk a fine, fine line and dammit he’s aware that it’s his own fault. But if Theo doesn’t like him enough to ask him out again, then Liam doesn’t have to let him down. Right? Right.

He reaches out to poke at his clothes. A fine, fine line indeed. He needs an outfit that is too casual for a date but looks like he tried to be presentable. So he’s staying out of his dresser where his t-shirts and sweats and athletic clothes are and he’s staying away from everything too _ nice. _From his closet, he immediately dismisses anything blue. Nothing to make his eyes pop. 

Damn, this is hard. He stares longingly at his maroon henley. It’s casual but nice. However, it highlights his muscles way to well and he’s not trying to show anything off. A button-up maybe? No. That’s actually pretty appropriate.

Liam thinks about Theo and what he knows about him. He knows Theo is a tattoo artist. He knows he’s teaching his niece how to skateboard. Liam knows Theo’s in a just-for-fun cover band with three others from the shop. He’s the lead singer and back-up guitarist. Liam tries not to stereotype or judge by the cover and all that, but he can kind of guess the type of guy Theo might not particularly go for. Maybe. Hopefully.

Liam pulls his one polo shirt out of his closet -black. Hayden had bought it for him- and a pair of khakis. Once he’s dressed he looks in the mirror. Jesus. He looks like he’s going to try to sell Theo a cell phone. Okay. Cool. That’s good, right? He doesn’t look like he’s trying to get the dude to go home with him.

Now he looks at his hair. It’s kind of a mess. Liam should’ve gotten a haircut weeks ago. Hayden had kept nagging him about it. He goes to his bathroom and brushes it out as best he can. Good enough. Because he’s not trying too hard. 

While he’s at it, he squints at his five o’clock shadow. Nope, not going to shave again.

He heads back to his closet and looks at his shoes. Three pairs of tennis shoes, dress shoes, work boots, four pairs of flip flops. He’s a simple man. Unfortunately, that means he doesn’t have the right footwear for his bland outfit… but Mason probably does.

Liam looks at the time, Corey is still at the shop and Mason should still be at work. If he’s fast, he can grab a pair of shoes to borrow before Mason gets home and sees what he’s wearing. Liam grabs his keys and marches out the door. 

He uses the stairwell to go down a floor and thanks the universe that his best friend had told him about the vacancy before he moved into the same building. He pulls out his emergency key and enters Mason and Corey’s apartment. Beelining for their bedroom, he turns on the light and wrinkles his nose at the bed that will definitely need fresh sheets before they go to bed that night.

He rolls his eyes and opens the closet to stare at the rows of shoes in front of him. Jeez, Mase. How many shoes does one man need? He finds the shoes he’s looking for; plain black Toms. Casual and slightly boring. Liam hates them.

He leaves the apartment, shutting off lights and locking the door behind him. He shoots a quick text to Mason telling him he borrowed some shoes and heads back up to his apartment to wait for the time to head to the restaurant.

*

He leaves ten after six, knowing he'll be five minutes late for the reservation. When he parks, he shakes out the uncomfortable tension between his shoulders at being late. Ugh. Hayden was almost always late for everything. It had driven Liam bonkers. Now, look at him.

He walks to the hostess and tells her his reservation time. She informs him his dining partner has already arrived. Before she can lead him toward the table, he catches her attention. "Hey, uh, can you tell our waiter that I'm sorry in advance and to go with it?"

"Go with what?"

Liam shakes his head. "Just- I promise it's nothing personal."

"Oh-kay?"

"Okay. Lead on, please." He gives her a reassuring smile as he can.

Liam spots Theo before he sees them. God, he's even more devastating in person. From what Liam can see, he's wearing a charcoal-colored button-up with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, showing off the tattoos on his forearms. The collar doesn't completely hide the top of a tattoo on the left side of his neck. He's got two silver rings in the right side of his bottom lip and a black curved barbell through his eyebrow. 

He looks a little upset. That's… good? Yes.

But when he sees Liam, he looks downright pleased to see him. Damn. 

Liam sits and apologizes for being late but doesn’t give an explanation. Theo doesn’t say anything about it, he just asks Liam about his week.

Before Liam can get into it, the waiter walks up to their table and hands them their menus. He looks cautious. The hostess must have given him the message. "Welcome to Anthonino's. My name is Josh and I'll be your server this evening. What can I get you to drink?"

_ Alright. Here goes nothing. _Liam flips his menu over to look at the drinks. He snorts and says, “Looks like I’m having water. Thanks.”

Theo orders a Coke and Josh hurries off to get their drinks. “Just water? Really?” He asks Liam.

“I’m more of a Pepsi guy,” Liam shrugs. Mason would hang him for that blasphemy.

“Do you want to order an appetizer? I heard the toasted ravioli is amazing.”

“I heard that, too,” Look, he might have a separate agenda here, but he’s not skimping on food. He’s fine sacrificing soda, but he’ll be damned if he’s giving up any food for his charade. “But I’m dying to try the spanakopita.”

Theo’s eyes furrow as he looks over the appetizer menu, attempting to say spanakopita. 

Liam bites back a grin at how endearing that is. He has no business finding Theo adorable.

Theo makes a little _ ah-ha _noise when he finds it. He looks up at Liam with a crooked grin that causes the rings in his lip to glint in the light above their table. “Looks good. We should get both.”

“Yeah?”

“Why not?” 

“Why not indeed.”

Josh returns with their drinks. “Did you guys want to order an appetizer?”

“Yeah, we wanted a small order of toasted ravioli and an order of… span- spana-”

“Spanakopita,” Liam interjects.

Theo shrugs amicably. “Yeah, that,” he grins.

“Not a problem,” Josh scribbles on his notepad. “I’ll get these to the kitchen and let you figure out if there’s anything else you want.”

Theo thanks him and he leaves. Liam bites his tongue to keep from also thanking him and opens the menu to look for something for dinner. He glances briefly at the soups and salads. There’s a burger menu? Americans really can make burgers out of anything. Ohh, pizzas. Damn that Greek pizza looks amazing. But Liam’s trying to look like a guy trying to be sophisticated but doesn’t actually know how. He turns to the featured entrees.

He’s halfway through the menu when Theo asks, “What’s fillo dough?”

“What?” Liam looks up at him, confused.

“Those stan things that you wanted say they’re wrapped in crispy fillo dough.” He pokes at his menu.

“Oh!” Liam can’t help but laugh. “Phyllo dough. Fee-low. It’s a really thin pastry dough. Kinda like spring rolls at Chinese restaurants? That thin crispy wrap.”

“Oh. Yeah, okay. I know what you’re talking about. My grandma’s name was Phyllis. That’s what it reminded me of so that’s how I said it.”

“Perfectly reasonable assumption.” Liam allows.

“Thanks. I thought so.” Theo smirks at him. “How do you know how to pronounce everything anyway?”

“In high school, my passion was lacrosse. But my hobby was history. I’d stay up late watching documentaries. I have a shelf full of history books with an entire section dedicated to ancient Greeks and Romans. Once you can pronounce words like Parthenopaeus, the rest isn’t too bad.” Liam shrugs.

“Yeah, I guess not.” Theo snorts. “And now you work at the museum?”

“Yep.” Now, see, normally Liam would start to excitedly babble about his job and how much he enjoys it. Lord knows Mason has asked him to talk about other things from time to time. But once again, he bites his tongue and goes back to looking at his menu. “What do you think you’re going to order?”

Liam looks back up at Theo whose brows are drawn once more. He looks pretty confused and Liam can only imagine what’s going through his head. “I don’t know,” Theo says and looks down at his own menu.

They look over their menus in silence and Liam hates himself a little. He drains his water glass and thinks about why he’d killed the flow. Which makes him think of Hayden. Which makes his chest hurt. Yeah, Theo is pretty great so far. He deserves better than a dude who can’t make his partner happy. He definitely deserves better than to be a rebound.

Josh returns with their appetizers. “So, have you guys decided?”

“Yeah, get me the beef braciole with marinara pasta,” Liam tells him, once again clamping down on his manners. 

“I was gonna try to order something sophisticated,” Theo starts with a charming grin, “but that sweet and spicy pizza is literally calling my name, so I’ll have that, please.” 

“Can confirm it’s awesome,” Josh tells him as he jots it in his notepad. 

Before Josh can turn away, Liam asks, “Hey, uh, John? Can I get a refill?”

The waiter smiles politely. “Of course. It’s Josh, though.”

Liam cringes so hard inside but says, “Huh? Oh, right. My bad. Here.” He hands Josh his empty glass and menu.

Theo hands his menu over as well and thanks him. 

Josh smiles brightly at Theo and walks off.

Liam dies inside.

*

Theo watches as Liam shoves the Greek spring roll thing in his mouth as Josh brings his refill. He nods at the waiter and takes a drink of water. Theo takes a deep breath and grabs a ravioli, dips it in marinara and takes a bite. Oh, damn. He’d heard correctly. They are amazing. So even if his company turns out to be less than ideal, at least the food is good.

God. Theo feels like he’s gotten sucker-punched in the face. He’d definitely noticed Liam every time he came into the shop with Mason to visit Corey. When Theo had asked Corey about Liam, he’d been bummed when Corey told him he had a girlfriend.

Theo knows he’s an exceptional artist. His chair is booked two months out, so he’s always busy while he’s at work. That he’d even noticed Liam with how rarely he came by the shop was enough to pique Theo’s interest. Then, when he came into the shop so Corey could put a flower on his foot, he’d overheard the guy telling them all about a Greek city where the roads were narrow and winding and would confuse invaders. Theo had been impressed.

When Mason had said something about Liam being single, Theo had jumped at the opportunity to get to know the guy a little better. Turns out, he’s kind of a jackass.

Theo can ignore the minimal grooming and insurance associate clothing, but what self-respecting millennial disrespects waitstaff? It isn’t hard to remember to say please and thank you. Plus, dude’s wearing a nametag.

The prolonged silence is not comfortable. He’d asked Liam to come here because he thought with his love of Greek history, he’d like trying Greek food. And if not, who hates Italian? Theo also thought Liam might talk more about history and what he does at work, but he’d shut that down real quick. Now, Theo doesn’t really know what to say or do.

When Josh brings them their meals, Theo thanks him once again. And once again, Liam doesn’t. He just digs into his food. 

“Before I head back, do you guys want this on one ticket or two?” Josh asks.

“Two,” Theo says before Liam can say anything. “Put the appetizers on mine, though, please.”

“Sure, no problem.” Josh smiles and walks off.

“I’ll get dessert,” Liam says.

“What?” Theo asks dumbly.

“I don’t know about you, but I’m definitely saving room for dessert. If you haven’t tried baklava, you need to. Unless you’re allergic to nuts?”

Theo shakes his head. “I’m allergic to shellfish, not nuts.”

“Cool.” Liam cringes. “Okay, not cool that you’re allergic to shellfish, but it’s cool you’re not allergic to nuts because that’s one of the key ingredients in baklava. So you can try it. I’ll cover it.”

Theo isn’t sure he wants to stay with Liam a minute longer than socially necessary, but he’s not actually dumb enough to say no to free dessert. And he got Liam to talk about that phyllo dough, maybe he can get him to talk about this baklava stuff. He’d lit up a little when he’d explained his interest in history, and Theo wants to see more of that.

“So, if you’re subjecting me to a foreign dessert, what is it exactly?” Theo smirks at him.

“Layered dessert. Start off with a few phyllo sheets -these are like paper-thin, just FYI- you layer them and then butter and then sprinkle crushed cinnamon sugar walnuts on top. Repeat the layers over and over until the pan is filled, I guess, then pour a bunch of melted butter on top and bake it. When it’s done you pour this honey lemon syrup on top and let it sit. It’s heavenly.” Liam blushes a little and shrugs. “I made it for home ec class.” 

God, but this guy is pretty. He gestures with his hands like he’s actually making the dish, reminding Theo a little of Stiles. “Oh man, home ec. I was a great sewer, an adequate cook, and a terrible baker. Not much has changed,” Theo confides.

Liam laughs and then immediately looks like he did something wrong. He clears his throat and his face shutters again. “So, uh, tell me about working at the shop.”

Theo is so confused. But he tells Liam about how he, Scott, and Stiles had made plans to open up a tattoo parlor when they were in school and how Scott was the only one who kept at the dream, which prompted Theo and Stiles to get their licenses. Theo had dragged Corey with him. They’d met in college and become fast friends. Scott had met Kira while they were looking for a piercer for the shop besides Corey. He’d been immediately besotted. She’s the one who found Malia to be the main piercer, though Kira and Corey are still both licensed to do piercings as well. Theo himself had recruited Lydia after she’d finished her apprenticeship at an older shop. 

As Theo tells Liam all of this, the other man nods and hmms and chuckles in all of the appropriate places, but Theo doesn’t think he’s actually listening. He practically leaps up to hug Josh when the waiter comes by to collect their empty plates and ask if they’d like dessert. Liam orders his baklava with two forks and a cup of Greek coffee.

“I take it you’re not sensitive to caffeine?” Theo raises his eyebrows at him. He’d be up all night if he ordered coffee right now.

“Nah, I’ll probably have some weird-ass dreams, though.” Liam shrugs. “Worth it.”

That makes Theo laugh. Which makes Liam’s eyebrows furrow. What the hell?

Theo hopes dessert goes by fast because this whole hot and cold thing Liam has going on has him wishing he’d never agreed to ask Liam out. Which is a damn shame.

Turns out, Liam was right about the baklava. It is divine. And that means it’s devoured in no time. Theo sends a special thanks to whatever deity is listening for that small mercy.

Josh brings them their checks and they both slip their cards into the little folders. When Josh comes back with their cards, Theo slips enough money in his returned folder for a little over 30% tip. Liam shoves two ones in his. _ Seriously?? _

“Alright, well, I have an early appointment tomorrow. So, I better get going. Saturdays are always a little hectic anyway, so the more sleep I get the night before, the better.” _ I want to get out of here asap and no, you are not coming home with me. _

“Yeah, I bet. Museum always has the most foot traffic on the weekends, too.”

“Right. So, I guess we should get out of here then.”

“Yeah.” Liam nods and stands.

Theo follows him out the front doors. “Alright. Have a good night, Liam.”

“Yeah, you too, Theo.” 

Liam turns and walks toward the opposite end of the parking lot as Theo is parked. Theo is glad he didn’t ask about another date and really hopes he doesn’t text him about one later. He slides into his truck and rolls out of the lot.

He feels irritated and he can’t really figure out what specifically annoyed him the most about tonight. Actually, he can. Josh was an excellent waiter and Liam had done him dirty. Two dollars!? Liam’s entree alone was over twenty bucks. Ugh. He knows it’s not his responsibility to fix what the little asshole had done, but Theo was the reason Liam had even been at the restaurant in the first place. He drives around the block and makes his way back into Anthonino’s parking lot.

*

Liam sits in his car and watches Theo drive off. He thumps his head against the steering wheel. Damn. Damn, damn, damn. That had been excruciating. But. It doesn’t look like Theo will be asking him out again. So, mission accomplished. Ugh.

Now it’s time to go apologize profusely to Josh and give him a _ much _ better tip. Liam had died a little inside while slipping those two bucks in that little folder. He pours himself out of his little SUV and trudges back into the restaurant. 

The hostess eyes him frostily as he walks through the doors. Oh, boy. His misdeeds have already been shared, apparently. “Hi again.” He rubs the back of his neck. “I was hoping I could talk to Josh? Just for a moment?”

“It’ll be a while. He’s on break.”

“That’s fine,” Liam says hastily. “I’ll wait, no problem. I just wanted to apologize -again- for my behavior. And give him an actual freaking tip.”

The girl, her nametag says Tracy, looks suspicious but nods. “Go ahead and sit on the bench. I’ll send word for him to come up front.”

“Thank you.” Liam turns to sit on one of the waiting benches.

He only sits there for about three minutes before he sees Josh approach him warily. Liam jumps up when he’s close. “Oh, my god. Josh. I am so sorry about how I acted. You didn’t deserve any of that and I honestly cannot apologize enough, but I can give you this.” He hands Josh a twenty. “It’s the least I could do after acting like an asshole all night.”

Josh stares dumbly at the bill in his hand. “Uh, thank you.” Josh folds the bill and tucks it in his apron. “I mean, you weren’t half as bad as a lot of the middle-aged white crowd,” Josh looks up and grins crookedly, “but no one likes being treated without common courtesy.”

“Right? Exactly. I was cringing so hard at myself the entire time. I’m so sorry.”

“So, then, why’d you do it?” 

“Okay, so that guy I was with? I didn’t really want to go on a date with him.”

“What? Why? He’s freaking hot.”

“Oh, yeah, I’m aware. But you see? It was set up by a mutual friend because I’m newly single. But I’m not ready to be dating anybody yet. I would’ve told my friend that, but he gave Theo my number and Theo started talking to me and I didn’t know how to tell him I wasn’t interested because he’s… well, you saw him. He’s actually pretty great and he deserves a helluva lot better than a mess like me. So. Here we are.” Liam shrugs helplessly.

“Wow, that’s… you pretended to be _ worse _than your actual self on a date? That’s a first for me, I’ll be honest. And I’ve seen things.”

Liam snorts. “Oh, I bet. So… are we good?”

“Yeah, man. It’s all good. Uh, better luck to you in the future when you are ready to date again.”

“Thank you, Josh. Really.” Liam holds out his hand and Josh shakes it.

He heads back out the front doors with a clearer conscience. Too bad that bridge with Theo was well burned. He kind of wonders how the date would have gone if he’d put effort into making it good instead. Doesn’t matter. 

He sighs, then gets in his car and goes home.

*

Theo sits in his truck and watches Liam drive off. He thinks about what he saw and overheard before ducking out before Liam could see him eavesdropping. The hostess girl had seen him. He can only imagine the look he had on his face that made the girl smirk at him.

God, Liam. That little shit. _ I’m not ready to be dating anybody yet… well, you saw him. He’s actually pretty great and he deserves a helluva lot better than a mess like me. _

He’s torn between being pissed that Liam had tanked the date on purpose and relieved that Liam wasn’t as bad as he’d pretended to be.

Liam could’ve told _ Theo _ that he wasn’t ready to go on a date so soon. He would’ve understood. There was no point in putting them both through all of that. 

Theo taps his fingers on his steering wheel, trying to decide what he’s going to do from here.

***

_ Three Months Later _

Liam feels his phone buzz in his pocket. He absently pulls it out of his pocket as he listens to Mason tell him about the color scheme he’d finally settled on for his and Corey’s wedding. They decided on a fall wedding, so fall colors seemed appropriate. 

Mason had (finally) proposed last month and the engagement is going to be pretty short, but they’ve been together since high school. If any couple is going to make it, it’s them. Liam’s sure of it.

He unlocks his phone and opens his messages, then groans.

**💩 6:12 PM**

**Hey dumbar**

Mason looks up at him. “What is it?”

“It’s Theo,” Liam sighs. 

“Raeken? Why is he texting you?”

“Because he’s an asshole.”

“What?” Mason looks bewildered. “Are we talking about the same Theo Raeken.”

Liam texts back:

**Me 6:12 PM**

**No. Please just delete my number.**

“Yea tall” --Liam holds his hand about two inches above his head-- “smoking body, sexy tattoos, equally sexy piercings, total wanker? Yep. Same guy.”

“Like, I know the date didn’t work out, but you said that it ended amicably; that he was chill. And he’s always been really great to me. Hell, he’s going to be Corey’s best man.”

“What?!” Liam yelps as his phone buzzes again. He helplessly looks at the new message.

**💩 6:13 PM**

Attachment 

**This is what you should wear on a date**

The photo is of a guy wearing a black jacket over a black button-up. Most of the guy’s face is cropped off but Liam can see a nice looking chin and jaw. There’s food spread out in front of the guy over a crisp white table cloth. Liam’s familiar enough with Anthonino’s by now to recognize the tufted booth behind the guy. _ Really? _

“Yeah, man. They’re best friends, you know? So, just like you’re my best man, he’ll be Corey’s.”

“Ugh. Of course.” Liam lowers his forehead onto Mason’s kitchen table. 

“So, why do you hate him, exactly?”

“Because ever since the date, he only texts me when he goes on ‘good’ dates because, and I quote, ‘these tips might help you in the future’. Fucking ass.”

Liam shoots off one more text before locking his phone, knowing Theo won’t text back since he got a reaction out of him.

**Me 6:14 PM**

**Fuck off, Raeken.**

“Why would he do that? The date couldn’t have been that bad. And Theo-” Mason cuts himself off, looking baffled.

“I dunno, man. Maybe you can have Corey talk to him or something?”

“Uh, yeah. I’ll see what I can do.”

Liam tilts his head. “What? You’re making your thinking face.”

“Can I see what he sent?”

“I guess.” Liam unlocks his phone and hands it over.

Mason doesn’t even bother to scroll through everything, just stares at what’s already on the screen, then taps on the picture. “Well, damn. What did you wear on that date?”

_ Oh, shit. _ He’d never had to give Mason details before. His best friend had just taken his word for it that everything had been fine, they just weren’t compatible or whatever. 

At Liam’s prolonged silence, Mason looks up to see the mild panic on Liam’s face. “Liam. What did you wear?”

Liam cringes. “I might have worn that polo you keep telling me to throw away and a pair of khakis with your black Toms.”

Mason presses his lips together then says pointedly, “What the fuck, Liam?”

“Ugh. This is why I didn’t tell you!” Liam flings his arms up in the air and drops them to the table.

Mason ignores that. “Why would you wear that? What is wrong with you? I bet you looked like…”

“Straight up looked like I’d just left work at a Verizon store,” Liam snickers.

“You’re not funny,” Mason says, even though his lips twitch. Then he looks serious again. “Why, Liam?”

“Ugh. Okay.” Liam picks at his fingernails and mutters, “I was actively trying to sabotage the date.”

“What? Wait, what? Why?”

Liam ducks his head and scratches the back of his neck. “I just- I wasn’t ready to go on a date with anyone. And you just set us up without asking.”

“Well, why didn’t you say anything then?”

“Because you gave him my number and he started talking to me and I didn’t know how to tell him I didn’t want to go on a date so I decided to just blow it and put us both out of our miseries.” Liam babbles. “Not that it worked because he won’t let it go!” He gestures to his phone.

“Does he know you sabotaged it?”

“No.”

“Are you sure?”

“Does Theo strike you as the type of guy who wouldn’t call someone out for a stunt like that?”

“Good point.” Mason squints down at the photo on Liam’s phone. “Actually, you’re absolutely right.” He hands the phone back to Liam with an unreadable expression.

Liam shoves his phone in his pocket. “Exactly. So, yeah. Hopefully, this new guy will stick and Theo will let it go.”

Mason hums. “I wouldn’t count on it.”

“What? Why?”

“I guess I just don’t think that guy is Theo’s type.”

Liam rolls his eyes. “Whatever. Let’s get back to wedding stuff. You’ve only got nine weeks left.”

“Oh god, you’re right.” Mason pulls his wedding binder toward himself. “There’s still so much shit left to do!”

*

Theo greets Tracy at the hostess podium and lets her know he’s there to pick up a to-go order. He’s been by Anthonino’s enough by now to know most of the staff. Josh waves at him on his way to the kitchen. He’s about to sit on the bench to wait for his food when he hears: “Hey, T!”

Theo turns to see his friend and client, Garrett, and his boyfriend, Sean. “Oh, hey guys. How’s it going?” Theo wanders over to their table.

“Good. Good. It’s date night.” Garrett grins. “You all by yourself?”

Theo laugh. “You really gotta ask?” He turns to Sean. “How’s your throat healing up?” he asks about the ink Corey had slapped on him a week ago.

“Itches like a bitch so it must be doing alright,” Sean grins.

“Worst part,” Theo says solemnly. Then he looks over the rest of Sean. Garrett’s a lucky dude. Sean is awful pretty… and dresses well… Theo smirks to himself. “Hey, Sean. Think I could get a pic of your outfit real quick? I’ll leave your face out.”

“Uh, sure?” Sean blinks, confused.

Theo parks himself beside Garrett and leans in to get a photo of Sean’s torso, his fresh ink showing through the vee of the undone buttons of his shirt. He scoots back out of the booth and snickers quietly and opening his messaging app.

Garrett finally catches on to what he’s doing. “Dude, really? You’re still keeping that up?”

“Yep.” Theo lets the P pop at the end of the word. Theo might or might not have used him as an example for Liam once or twice.

“You realize that at this point you’re basically the boy on the playground that pulls the pigtails of the girl he likes?”

“Never let it be said that I’m not a petty asshole.” Theo grins delightedly down at Liam’s response to his opening message and sends the photo he took of Sean with another little message. “It was great seeing you guys.” He salutes them with his phone and steps back. “Enjoy your date night.”

He walks back over to Tracy who holds out his order. He thanks her and tries to take the bag, but she holds on tight. “Do I want to know what that’s all about?” she asks.

“Probably not,” he hedges.

“It has nothing to do with a certain blue-eyed angel who once pretended to be a sloppy jackass?”

“I know not of what you speak. Can I have my food now?”

“Sure, but Theo?” She lets him have the bag. “Why don’t you just… talk to him?”

“Because as far as he knows, I’m clueless about that night. But since I know I was robbed of _ that,” _ Theo gestures to Garrett and Sean talking and laughing with each other. Probably about him, but that’s not the point. “I’m not inclined to give him a break until he realizes the error of his ways.”

“Okay, and then what?”

Theo shrugs. “Then, hopefully, we try again.”

“You really still like him after the disaster date?” Tracy tilts her head.

“I liked the idea of him before the date. I definitely disliked him during the date. But then I saw him apologizing to Josh and explaining his actions and suddenly I wasn’t confused by all the contradictions I’d noticed during the date. Under that awful outfit was the guy I’d hoped to go on a date with in the first place. Do I agree with his methods? Absolutely not. Especially with how effective they were. If I hadn’t felt so bad for Josh, I wouldn’t have come back and overheard what I did. I had no plans to contact him again after that date.” Theo shrugs. “Look, if bad timing was what prompted that shitshow, then I’ll wait for a better time. Until then, I’m going to have a little fun with just a hint of payback,” he grins. 

“Wow.” Tracy blinks at him. “Okay, well, best of luck to you then. Maybe lay off the Sweet and Spicy pizzas a little, though. Don’t want to get fat before he figures it out.”

Theo cradles his bag protectively in one arm and pats his abs with the other. “I’ll be fine, thanks,” he smirks at her. He doesn’t mention the extra time he spends in the gym to make up for the pizzas. 

He thanks her again and heads out the door. Once he’s in his truck, he checks his phone to see Liam’s response to the photo. He chuckles at it and tosses his phone in the cupholder. _ No, Liam Dunbar, you beautiful idiot. I will not fuck off. _

*

The next morning, Theo walks into the shop carrying two drink carriers full of coffees from the coffee shop on the way from his house. Stiles immediately crowds him, pulling the cup with his name on it out of the carrier, followed by Malia. “This is why we keep you around, Raeken.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Theo rolls his eyes at them and sets the rest on the front counter. He grabs his coffee and wanders toward his chair. He grins when he sees Mason sitting in it. “You finally going to let me put a needle to that beautiful skin of yours?”

Mason snorts. “You know that Corey has first dibs.”

Theo sighs exaggeratedly, “Fine. Get outta my chair, then. I’ve got an actual appointment in forty-five minutes.”

“Not until you tell me if you’ve suddenly started dating Garrett and Sean.”

“Uh, what?” Theo blinks, totally confused by the abrupt change in subject. “I’m not dating Sean and Garrett.”

“Well, I sincerely hope Sean isn’t cheating on Garrett with you then.”

“Of course not! What the fuck, Mason? Where is this coming from?”

Mason uses his toes to swivel the chair left and right. “Well, I just thought the guy in the photo you sent to Liam last night looked awful familiar.”

Oh. _ Oh. Shit. _

“Okay, so that looks bad. But I just happened to run into Garrett and Sean while they were on a date and I asked to snap a photo because Sean looked nice. I never said in that text that _ I _ was dating Sean.” Theo crosses his arms defensively. Damn, he didn’t think he’d be accused of being a homewrecker in all of this.

“You’re not going to explain to me why you’re even texting my best friend about these ‘dates’ in the first place?”

“Hmm… no.”

“Try again?” Mason arches a brow.

“Ugh. Okay.” Theo peels the corner of the sleeve around his coffee cup. “I know Liam tanked our date on purpose. So, I might be getting some admittedly petty revenge.”

“Ha! I knew you’d figured it out.” Mason grins triumphantly.

Theo pauses. “Does Liam know that I know?”

“Nope. He’s even dumber than you.”

“Hey!”

“He could’ve talked to you about not being ready to date. You could’ve confronted him when you found out and talked to him about it like an adult. But no, he sabotaged the date and you’re being an ass.” Mason rolls his eyes. “Honestly, you guys are probably perfect for each other. How did you figure it out?”

“I, uh, didn’t have to. He pretended to be a dick to the waiter and I felt bad for the guy so I turned around to give him a better tip for putting up with Liam. When I got there, Liam was apologizing and explaining what he’d done and I overheard it.” Theo rocks back on his heels.

“So instead of talking to him about it, you decided to egg him on for months?”

“Yes?” 

Mason just sighs, exasperated. “Are you ever going to tell him that you know?”

“Not until he admits it.”

“What? Jesus, why?”

“Look, I liked the guy. I wouldn’t have agreed to go on a date with him in the first place. Then he goes and acts like a jackass. On purpose. I already told you I’m being a petty asshole about it. Apparently we’re both dumbasses. It’ll give us something to talk about on our next date.”

Mason blinks at him. “You- you actually want to go on another date with him?”

“Oh, yeah, sure.” Theo shrugs. “The first one doesn’t count, given the circumstances. I think we both deserve a do-over. But not until he admits he busted the date on purpose _ and _not until he’s ready.” He gives Mason a pointed glare.

“Alright, I’ll give you that last one. But you better hope he admits it before my wedding because I will not have this drama between the best men.” Mason wags his finger at Theo. “I _ will _ tell him before then if I have to.”

“Alright, fine!” Theo raises his hands in surrender. 

“Good. I’ll let you get ready for your client now.” Mason smiles pleasantly and hops out of the chair.

Theo raises his eyes to the ceiling and heaves a heavy sigh.

“You know, I’m just surprised it took this long for Liam to show Mason your messages.” Lydia’s voice comes from behind Theo.

Theo turns just enough to look at her. “Yeah, yeah. You told me so.”

Lydia smiles prettily and shrugs. She might have been another person Theo had used in his little game with Liam. She also might have been pretty vocal in how much of a stupid idea it was. Whatever.

Theo sits on his stool and bends down to pull out his gun case and starts assembling his tools. Everyone is probably right. It’s been going on for too long by now. One of them is going to have to break; and soon.

*

Mason saunters into the drawing room where Corey is putting the finishing touches on a custom hourglass piece for his first client of the day. Corey looks up from his outline and asks, “How’d it go?”

Mason leans back against a counter. “He’s known since right after the sabotaged date and has been agitating Liam on purpose ever since. He’s not actually dating Garrett and/or Sean. Pretty much all I’ve learned today is that they’re both dumbasses and they belong together.” 

“I don’t think Theo has gone on an actual date since the one Liam now that I think about it. So whoever he’s been sending photos of to Liam weren’t any actual dates. Why didn’t you look at them all? I am curious at how many ‘dates’ Theo’s bragged about.” Corey snickers.  


"Hopefully not so many that Liam would refuse to see him again," Mason says seriously, eyes narrowing. 

"Oh boy. That's your meddling face. You’re going to meddle."

"I do not have a meddling face.” Mason waves him away. “They need to _ talk _ and put themselves out of their misery. We should help them.”

“That would be meddling.”

“Whatever. You know I’m right. They obviously like each other. Otherwise, Liam wouldn’t have done what he did and Theo would’ve stopped talking to him altogether and not be trying to get a rise out of him.”

Corey mutters, “Alright, looks like were meddling.” Then louder he says, “Did Theo say anything about what he wants from Liam?”

“He wants a second chance. Another date; a real one. Says he’s not going to stop being obnoxious to Liam until he admits he busted the date on purpose. Then I guess he’ll ask him out? He really didn’t say how he’d bridge those two wants together.”

“So, tell Liam to admit that to Theo that he botched the date. Easy.”

Mason rolls his eyes. “Not easy. This has been going on for literally months and all he does is tell Theo to fuck off and delete his number. Did you know Theo’s contact info is save under the poop emoji?” He shakes his head, exasperated.

Corey snorts. “Theo is a little shit. Makes sense.”

“Not the point,” Mason says drolly.

“Just convince Liam that Theo will probably stop being an ass if he knows the date was a dud because Liam made sure it was. Have him defend himself, then let Theo do whatever he plans on doing next.” Corey stands up and walks over to Mason to kiss his forehead. “Go meddle, baby. You’ll feel better when they’re happily dating.”

Mason snorts and brings his fiance’s face down to his for a kiss.

* 

Liam wraps up his tour with a group of eighth-graders. Younger teens were easier to get through to than the high schoolers, but they were still teenagers. The boys were rowdy and the girls had finally mastered eye-rolling. Liam always felt the need to call his mom and apologize after a school tour. 

The best part of working with the kids, though, is always that one who actually listens to what he’s saying, who is fascinated by the history surrounding them. They remind him of himself and he hopes they pursue whatever dream they have while walking through the exhibits.

“Alright, guys. That’s it for today. Anything you absolutely need to know before you head back to the school?”

A girl wearing a shirt with a popular werewolf show logo on it raises her hand. “I read a post on Tumblr that Viking women used to carry around knives that they would stab their husbands with if they mistreated them. Is that true?”

“Yep. Then she could divorce the jerk and he’d be forever shamed.”

The girl grins. “We should bring that back.”

“Totally,” Liam agrees.

A boy who’d been screwing around with his friends and not paying attention at all during the tour pushes through his buddies and asks, “Is it true that Spartan women had to shave their heads so their husbands would bang them.”

“Trayton!” the teacher scolds the boy while his friends all laugh.

“Let’s just say that the Spartan warriors were, ah… encouraged to be as close as possible to their brothers-in-arms to promote trust and camaraderie. When they aged out of the army, they took wives to populate the next generation of warriors. It was often difficult for them to adjust to civilian life,” Liam tells the boy concisely.

“Alright,” the teacher says sharply. “No more questions. Let’s get on the bus.”

The kids snicker and follow their teacher like the good little ducklings they are. Liam rolls his eyes and heads toward the staff area. He pulls his phone out of his pocket and checks his notifications. Mason wants to have lunch with him at the diner a couple of blocks from the museum. He taps out a reply saying he’ll meet Mason there in twenty minutes.

He files a report about a broken piece on one of the displays that he’d noticed during the tour. He makes a note that the cleaning crew should be reminded to be careful while doing their work. After that, he files another report about the tour for the guys in the numbers department. When he’s finished with the paperwork he heads out to the diner.

Liam enters the diner and waves at Sydney, his favorite waitress before spotting Mason at their usual booth. He’s got his laptop out and a half empty cup of tea beside it. The two teabags set to the side indicate how long he’d been there. He barely looks up when Liam sits down.

“Good to know I agreed to have lunch with the back of your laptop,” Liam greets him.

Mason pauses his typing. “I’m almost finished with this section. Two minutes, tops.”

Liam holds up his hands in surrender and mimes zipping his mouth shut. He pulls out his phone to scroll through Instagram.

Sydney sets a cherry vanilla coke with three cherries beside Liam and asks, “The usual for you boys?”

Mason gives her a thumbs up and Liam tilts his head, thinking. After a minute he decides that, yes, he will have his usual and thanks her for his drink.

Mason finishes what he was doing and closes his laptop. “Why did I think getting my doctorate was a good idea?”

“Because, future Dr. Hewitt-Bryant, you are driven and passionate.”

“Doctor Hewitt-Bryant.” Mason muses. “I could do it just for that.” He grins.

Liam grins back and plucks one of the cherries out of his drink and pops it in his mouth. “You’re an excellent professor already. After this, you’ll be transcendent.”

“Thank you. Thank you very much. I’m just glad I didn’t agree to teach summer classes this year. It’s giving me a lot of extra time to work on this thing.”

“I’m not sure you slept all spring, to be honest.” 

“I think you’re right,” Mason chuckles. “So. I went by the shop before coming here.”

“Yeah? Corey working on anything exciting?”

“He was drawing up a wicked hourglass. Anyway, I saw Theo and it reminded me of last night.”

“Ugh. This is why I didn’t tell you for so long.” Liam slumps in his seat. “Now you’re meddling.”

“Why does everyone keep saying that?” Mason asks, flinging his hands in the air.

“Because you are.” Liam looks at him pointedly.

“Whatever. Fine. I’m meddling and telling you you should own up to Theo.”

Liam looks at him like he’d grown another head. “Why the hell would I do that?”

"You think he's doing what he's doing because of the shitty date right? So, maybe if he knew you dressed stupid and all that on purpose, he'll leave you alone."

Liam narrows his eyes in thought. "Yeah… maybe."

Sydney comes back and sets their plates in front of them. Liam beams at her. "Have I told you lately that I love you?"

"Not since last week." She winks before walking away to check on her other tables.

Liam immediately digs into his mac and cheese. He doesn’t know if they put magic fairy dust in it back in the kitchen and frankly he doesn’t want to know. It’s freaking delicious and that’s all that matters. He’d probably get a giant bowl of it with nothing else if he didn’t think Mason would judge him the whole time he ate it.

His phone buzzes on the table and he looks down at it. “Speak of the devil,” Liam mumbles and picks up his phone.

**💩 1:37 PM**

**Hey Liam **

“Wait, what?” Mason asks.

“Theo just texted me.”

“What did he say?”

“Just ‘hey Liam’ which is weird because usually, he starts off with ‘hey Dumbar’. He’s probably trying to lure me in with a false sense of security.”

“Or maybe he’s trying to man up and apologize for being a douche.”

Liam snorts. “That’s a funny joke, Mase. Tell me another.”

**Me 1:38 PM**

**Why can't you just leave me alone?**

**Did your nicely dressed date **

**not call you back or something?**

**💩 1:38 PM**

**As if I'd cry to you if that happened**

**Maybe I just wanted to talk to you**

"Christ. He's really setting this one up, isn't he?" Liam shakes his head.

"Why? What'd he say? What's going on? Liam!"

"Mase, chill. He said he just wants to talk to me, which I'm 99% sure is utter bullshit."

Mason murmurs something under his breath that Liam doesn't catch but he thinks he hears the word 'dumbasses' thrown in there. Whatever. He's not the one that Theo has been mocking for months.

"You know what? You're right. This needs to stop and if owning up is what I've gotta do, so be it. Here goes nothing."

Mason grins as Liam types.

**Me 1:30 PM**

**Whatever, Theo. You've been a complete dick over**

**one date. One that I purposely dressed and**

**acted badly for. Sorry to burst your bubble, but**

**I'm actually an awesome date. Fuck you very much.**

"There," Liam says smugly.

Before Mason can ask what he wrote, his phone buzzes in his hand. 

**💩 1:32 PM**

**Finally.**

**You can prove it to me tomorrow. **

**What time do you usually go to lunch?**

“What the fuck?” Liam stares dumbly at his phone.

“Li-am! Tell me!”

“He- he’s asking me on a lunch date? Tomorrow?”

“Really? So soon?”

“That’s what you’re concerned about? I told him that I fucked up the date on purpose and he just said ‘finally’ and told me to prove I’m actually a good date. What the fuck?”

“Looks like he was being a dick so you’d admit you fucked up the date on purpose and he wants a do-over. Makes sense to me.”

“But he didn’t know!”

“Apparently, he did.”

**Me 1:35 PM**

**What? Are you joking?**

**💩 1:35 PM**

**Absolutely not. If tomorrow isn't good for **

**you we can wait until the weekend but tbh **

**I feel like I've been waiting forever**

**Me 1:36 PM**

**Wtf Theo? **

**How long have you known?**

**💩 1:37 PM**

**I walked in on you apologizing to Josh. So like**

**basically the whole time. **

**So tomorrow or?**

**M** **e 1:37 PM**

**You really want to go out with me again?**

**Why?**

**💩 1:38 PM**

**Yes**

**Because I like you**

**Me 1:38 PM**

**You do?**

**What?**

**Why?**

**💩 1:39 PM**

**I always have**

**So I’d really like to go out for real**

**But only if you're actually ready this time. If **

**not I'll wait and we can just talk until you are**

Liam’s mind is racing and his heart feels like its gonna pound out of his chest.

**Me 1:40 PM**

**I usually take lunch at 12:30.**

**💩 1:40 PM**

**So you won't be mad if I swing by to pick **

**you up and take you somewhere?**

**Me 1:40 PM**

**No. I'll make sure my schedule is**

**clear so I can leave on time.**

**💩 1:40 PM**

**Awesome!!! 😃**

**I'll see you tomorrow**

**Me 1:41 PM**

**Yeah. See you tomorrow, Theo. **

Liam sets down his phone and picks up his chicken burger, staring at it blankly.

“What’s going on? Liam! What happened?”

Liam looks up. Mason looks like he’s about to jump across the table and strangle him if he doesn’t answer. “We have a lunch date tomorrow,” he tells him with a calmness he doesn’t really feel.

“Excellent.” Mason leans back and pops a fry in his mouth with a satisfied grin.

*

The next afternoon, Theo pulls his truck into the museum parking lot. He glances into the rearview mirror to make sure he doesn’t look stupid. His hair wouldn’t cooperate this morning so he pulled on a beanie. It’ll have to do. He’s suddenly glad Liam had agreed on the lunch date. No one is expected to dress up on a lunch date.

He climbs out of the truck and pulls down his black hoodie before walking into the museum. The girl at the front desk greets him and he lets her know he’s just there to pick someone up. Okay so maybe he’s a little early.

At 12:32, Liam walks around the corner, frowning at his phone. God, he looks good. He’s just wearing a plain white t-shirt tucked into black slacks, but it’s working for Theo.

He looks up and spots Theo and pauses. “Ready for take two?” he asks a little nervously.

“I thought you’d never ask.” Theo grins at him, making Liam smile back.  


Theo follows him to the truck and thanks the universe for this second chance.

**Author's Note:**

> For the record, Anthonino's is a real restaurant in St. Louis and their toasted ravioli really are amazing.


End file.
